My Redfin/Grass Pickerel just took a couple of Hikari Massivore pellets this morning! I've had him on frozen Silversides and Krill for a while now, and he'd reached the point where he took broken pieces of them. Lately he's taken to at least initiating a feeding response on anything that landed within view, but he would pull up at the last minute on anything other than
meat. Until today! I always feed pellets or a fd food of some kind first to keep the assorted Sunfish that share the tank busy. That and putting its food right in front of the Pickerel have made competition for food a non-issue. Today he did the Pickerel thing and teleported halfway across the tank to take the first pellet that hit the water! I managed to get him to take a couple more by presenting them right in front of him. I'm still going to feed him his normal ration of fish and shrimp, but it's nice to know that in apinch I don't have to! He's stuffed to the gills on Silversides now, but I'll try to get video of him taking pellets next time I feed.
Pickerel Eats Pellets!
Started by
Guest_Subrosa_*
, Dec 09 2012 10:53 AM
5 replies to this topic
#2
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 09 December 2012 - 05:21 PM
Please tell us more about his size and time that you have had him. Also his tank size, plantings, and any other tank mates. All this would be extremely important for others that might work on a conversion to pellets.
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#3
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 09 December 2012 - 05:43 PM
This is exciting news! I share the questions above.
#4
Guest_Subrosa_*
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Posted 09 December 2012 - 06:57 PM
I've had it since about April, at which time it was about 2" long. It's currently about 7". The tank is a 40 breeder, 36" x 18" x 16". It's mostly a rock scape but has a nice stand of Rotala rotundifolia and a few other plants. Tankmates are a 4" Yellow Perch, a 5" Bluegill, a 3" Unknown Sunfish (Gerald thought it might be a Redbreast/Green hybrid when we caught it) and a 2" Green Sunfish. A 3" Orange Spot was also in the tank until recently, but during Sandy I lost power and stopped feeding, and apparently the Bluegill took exception! I started the Pickerel on live feeder Guppies and Ghost Shrimp and worked up to Fatheads. I was keeping the Fatheads in a 5 gal bucket with a sponge filter until I needed them, and once when I needed them they were all dead. They were freshly dead, and Pickerel do try to eat pieces of plastic with hooks hanging all over them so I took a chance and tried to present one in a life-like manner by throwing it at the surface of the water like a dart. It hit the water head first and must have looked like a swimming fish, because the fish took it. At that point I started offering whole Silversides, and through a combination of my getting better with my presentation and the Pickerel getting used to the John=food equation it became routine. I've been following my normal feeding regimen for a large mouthed predator, feeding the fish to satiation 2 or 3 times a week. As i said previously I feed the other fish their pellets first, and had noticed that the Pickerel was developing an interest in them.
#5
Guest_schambers_*
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Posted 17 December 2012 - 07:24 PM
I got one on pellets once, but it didn't really thrive. I'd make sure you keep feeding fish, too.
#6
Guest_exasperatus2002_*
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Posted 18 December 2012 - 08:25 AM
I've had it since about April, at which time it was about 2" long. It's currently about 7". The tank is a 40 breeder, 36" x 18" x 16". It's mostly a rock scape but has a nice stand of Rotala rotundifolia and a few other plants. Tankmates are a 4" Yellow Perch, a 5" Bluegill, a 3" Unknown Sunfish (Gerald thought it might be a Redbreast/Green hybrid when we caught it) and a 2" Green Sunfish. A 3" Orange Spot was also in the tank until recently, but during Sandy I lost power and stopped feeding, and apparently the Bluegill took exception! I started the Pickerel on live feeder Guppies and Ghost Shrimp and worked up to Fatheads. I was keeping the Fatheads in a 5 gal bucket with a sponge filter until I needed them, and once when I needed them they were all dead. They were freshly dead, and Pickerel do try to eat pieces of plastic with hooks hanging all over them so I took a chance and tried to present one in a life-like manner by throwing it at the surface of the water like a dart. It hit the water head first and must have looked like a swimming fish, because the fish took it. At that point I started offering whole Silversides, and through a combination of my getting better with my presentation and the Pickerel getting used to the John=food equation it became routine. I've been following my normal feeding regimen for a large mouthed predator, feeding the fish to satiation 2 or 3 times a week. As i said previously I feed the other fish their pellets first, and had noticed that the Pickerel was developing an interest in them.
Monkey see, monkey do.
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